1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to selecting a primary-secondary host pair for mirroring virtual machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-availability computer systems use redundant computers to provide a continuity of services as provided by the computer system in the event of a hardware failure. In a virtual machine environment, a virtual machine operating on a primary computer periodically mirrors its processor and memory states onto one or more backup computers. This mirroring process ensures that the virtual machine continues operating on at least one of the backup computers in case of a hardware failure of the primary computer. When high-availability functionality is activated on the virtual machine operating on the primary computer, the primary computer queries one or more backup computers regarding their available resources, and the primary computer requests to mirror its virtual machine onto at least one backup computer that has sufficient resources to support the virtual machine.